Elon Musk Says Trump’s Spending Plan Undermines Government Efficiency Efforts
Elon Musk is speaking out against President Donald Trump’s latest tax and spending package, warning that the bill could balloon the national deficit and undermine the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a federal initiative Musk has supported.
In a video released Tuesday, the billionaire tech entrepreneur criticized the “big, beautiful bill,” saying it runs counter to efforts to streamline federal operations and reduce waste.
“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit—not decreases it—and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk said in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning. “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both.”
The legislation includes trillions in tax cuts alongside major increases in defense and national security spending. It would be partially offset by cuts to federal health, nutrition, and energy programs. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the bill could add $3.8 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade. After narrowly passing the House, the bill is now headed to the Senate, where it’s expected to face revisions.
Musk’s comments came as he reemerges in the public eye during a media blitz ahead of a critical SpaceX Starship test flight. While Musk has been one of Trump’s most prominent business allies, he acknowledged this week that his heavy involvement in politics may have come at a cost to his businesses.
“I think I probably did spend a bit too much time on politics,” Musk told Ars Technica Tuesday. “The media overplays it because political controversy gets traction. But yeah, I’ve reallocated more of my time back to the companies recently.”
Asked whether his political focus had hurt SpaceX, Musk said, “It’s not like I left the companies. It was just the relative time allocation, and I’ve reduced that significantly in recent weeks.”
Musk also signaled he would scale back his political spending, saying last week he plans to invest “a lot less” in political campaigns going forward. However, it remains unclear whether he will revise his pledge to contribute $100 million to political groups aligned with Trump. To date, Musk has spent over $290 million to support Trump and Republican congressional candidates, and his affiliated organizations poured more than $20 million into a Wisconsin Supreme Court race earlier this year, which ended in defeat for his endorsed candidate.
Despite his criticism of the bill, Musk stood by DOGE, the government efficiency initiative he helped establish and champion. Speaking to the Washington Post on Tuesday, he defended the agency and pushed back against what he described as scapegoating.
“DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,” Musk said. “Something bad happens anywhere in government, and we get blamed—even if we had nothing to do with it.”
CNN has reported that DOGE staff will remain embedded across various federal agencies, even as Musk steps back from day-to-day involvement. The department is expected to continue operations for months, if not years, with or without Musk’s direct leadership.
